


The Communicator

by Buttercupbadass



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: Con-man!Peeta, F/M, Halloween prompt by Thanksgiving, Psychic!Peeta, Spooky not Spooky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-08-27 05:24:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16696267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buttercupbadass/pseuds/Buttercupbadass
Summary: Desperate times call for desperate measures.   Katniss reaches out for help from an unusual source but can she trust the blue eyed con-man that shows up at her door?  Someone's life may depend on it.





	The Communicator

**Author's Note:**

> A Halloween prompt for psychic Peeta led to this. I took it in a different direction from the original spooky intention so I don't feel too badly for posting closer to Thanksgiving.
> 
> Thanks to MegaAULover, Alliswell and of course the always amazing Katnissdoesnotfollowback for the encouragement. KDNFB for her betaing as well.

Katniss rubs her bandaged arm while staring at a slip of paper atop her coffee table.   _ It’s ridiculous, can’t be real, what a gimmick, he’s a con-man making a buck,  _  she thinks. Yet, she can’t go on living like this.  It’s paid for after all and it’s not her money. Effie already bought the session, all she needs to do is make the phone call to set up the appointment.  She rubs her arm again and notices the blood has begun to seep through the gauze. She lets out a frustrated sigh. Buttercup watches from his perch on the mantle, his tail twitching at his side.  She hears a faint growl. That does it. She picks up the card and her phone and walks into the kitchen.

 

“This is Peeta,” he answers on the second ring.

 

“Are you the Pet Psychic?”  Katniss asks, confused by how normal he sounds.

 

“I prefer the term Communicator but yes, that’s me.”

 

“Oh, I would like to make an appointment.”

 

“Ok, well I’m booked for the next couple months but I can fit you in the first week in January.”

 

“I don’t think I’ll last that long.  I may have to put him to sleep before then. I’m bleeding.”

 

“Let’s just stay calm.  What kind of pet do you have? I suspect it's a cat.”

 

“Demon more like but yes, a cat.”

 

“Male, female, neutered?” He asks clinically

 

“Aren’t you supposed to know this, you are the psychic aren’t you?”

 

“Communicator, and I’m talking to you, not the cat,” he says with a slight laugh.

 

Well he can laugh at himself, Katniss thinks.  “Male, neutered.”

 

“When was the last time he was seen by a vet?”

 

“Last week, he had half the staff cowering in fear.”

 

“Did they do bloodwork? Sometimes imbalances can cause behavioral issues.”

 

“Yes the vet explained that but, everything was fine.  He’s just pure evil.”

 

“I see.”

 

“I don’t know if I believe in all this but my aunt bought this gift certificate.  I don’t know what else to do, he’s getting worse.”

 

“Ah, I see.  Your Aunt would have dealt with my receptionist.  I don’t usually answer the phone but she’s on her honeymoon so, you got me.”  

 

_ A receptionist?  This hooey must be profitable if he has a receptionist. _

 

“For cats, I like to come to you.  It’s less stressful on the cat. Would that be OK?

 

“I guess.”

 

“Where are you located?”

 

“I’m in Seam.”

 

“Oh, you’re close.  That makes it easier to schedule.”

 

“You’re that busy?”

 

“Well I travel all over the country.  I’m in the Capitol all next week, then I’ll be on the coast for a week.”

 

“Vacation?”

 

“Partly, I have appointments there for a couple days, checking in on past clients.  The rest I’ll be visiting friends.”

 

“Oh, I guess I’ll have to take my chances that I won’t strangle this beast before you get back.”

 

“You sound desperate.”

 

“I am.”

 

“Is he in the room right now?”  

 

Katniss looks over her shoulder to see Buttercup has followed her and is now listening to her conversation.  “He just walked in.” _Coincidence_. “Don’t tell me you can ‘communicate’ over the phone.”

 

“Not well, but I just got a strong sense of superiority.”

 

“And I thought you sounded so normal.”

 

“You’d be surprised.  Listen, Katniss was it?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“He sounds like he has a lot to say.  Since you’re so close by… Friday night I have an appointment with a neurotic pit bull in my office.  I could stop by after my normal hours.”

 

“I don’t want to cut into your personal time. We can wait. I’ve been saying I’m going to kill him for years.  Haven’t yet.”

 

“Well let’s not take any chances.  How’s 7?”

 

“Perfect.” 

 

“Text me your address.”

 

   ***

 

“Katniss, you haven’t been answering my texts!”  Effie totters up her garden path on stiletto heels and wearing a pink jogging suit.

 

“Sorry, I’ve been out here all morning.  My phone is inside.”

 

“Oh, no problem dear.  Haymitch and I want to ask you to dinner on Friday.  We’re having a few people over.”

 

“Sounds like a set up.”

 

“Oh, no dear, just some of Haymitch’s new associates.”

 

“Uh huh.”  Katniss nods.  They’ve pulled that one on her before.  Their new associates last time turned out to be 3 couples and one poor, equally unsuspecting single guy.  Effie is terrified Katniss will end up alone so she has made it her life’s mission to fix her up with every new associate in Haymitch’s law firm.

 

“Can’t this time Effie, I have plans.”

 

“Darling, no need to lie, you can just say no.  I know you never have plans on Friday.”

 

“No lie.  It’s an appointment really.  I’m using that gift certificate you gave me for the pet psychic.”   She holds up her bandaged arm to show her aunt the evidence.

 

“Oh, he got you again,” she sighs. “You got in so quickly, his receptionist told me he’s booked months in advance.”

 

“He ‘sensed’ I was desperate and he’s local so he squeezed me in after hours.”

 

“You spoke to him! Oh, that is exciting.  He’s famous, you know?”

 

“There are fans for psychics?”

 

“Communicator, dear.  And  _ he _ has fans.  He goes all over the country, he’s amazing.  I watch his show all the time.”

 

“Show?”  Now Katniss is confused.

 

“Yes, dear. Really, you must start paying attention to more than plants.  He has a cable show. That’s how I found him.”

 

“He better not bring cameras here.”

 

“Oh, I’m sure he’d have to clear it with you first.”

 

Then a terrible thought occurs to Katniss. “You didn’t tell him anything about me did you?”  Katniss can just hear her aunt telling the psychic,  _ Oh my Katniss is such a lovely girl. _

 

“Oh, I wasn’t allowed to speak to him.  I spoke to his receptionist. Sweet girl.  She thought I was trying to set you up with him too.  I guess women will do anything to meet him. I had to assure her that yes, you are a cat owner and yes, you are in need of help. That’s it.  She didn’t want me to tell her anything else.”

 

“It better not be a set up because Buttercup’s life depends on it.”

 

“Oh, no dear.  I sincerely hope he can help.  One of these days that cat will scratch you, it will get infected and you’ll end up in the hospital.  Even though you threaten, I know you would never put him down.”

 

“I know.”

 

“Just do yourself a favor,” she says with a suspicious smile. “Brush your hair out and put on some lipstick before he comes over.  You look so nice when you put on a little makeup.”

 

“Thought it wasn’t a set up.”

 

“It’s NOT!”  She says with fake shock.  “But he is a good looking man.”

 

“He’s a Pet Psychic, Effie.  It’s not real, he’s basically a con-man with a television show.”

 

“He’s a communicator dear.  Don’t be rude. Call me as soon as he leaves.”

 

“Won’t you be hosting your dinner party?”

 

“Really dear, if you’re not there, what’s the point?”

 

“Ha!  It was a set up!”

 

“Of course dear, but he’ll keep.  He has a lazy eye. They’re not exactly beating down the door.”  Effie totters back down the path as Katniss starts to question her life choices.  She really shouldn’t have bought a house within walking distance from her family.

 

***

Friday night arrives. Katniss hurries home from work and immediately sets to work putting a pot of stew on the stove.  Buttercup likes to lick the gravy, he can have a treat after he’s done communicating.

 

At 6:30 she runs to her bedroom to change.  Definitely not to get dressed up, no, she’s just changing out of her work clothes. Maybe she’ll rebraid her hair but, that’s it.  She’s definitely not putting on lipstick.

 

Ok, she  _ may _ have looked him up and Effie was right, he is a good looking man. A good looking con-man who pretends to be Dr. Doolittle, she reminds herself.

 

Buttercup stands enguard at her bedroom door.  He swats at her ankles before he saunters away to where ever it is he hides.  “I can still drown you!” She yells. He turns, tail up in the air, giving her a clear view of his asshole.  This cat doesn’t need a communicator, he makes his point pretty clearly.

 

Katniss brushes her hair out into a long curtain of ebony.  She means to rebraid it yet, somehow she doesn’t. She should just put on her usual Friday night wear of sweats and T-shirt, instead she grabs her “good ass” jeans and a cozy sweater.  We’re not trying here right? Of course, the sweater has a deep V that she usually makes modest with a camisole under it but she ‘forgets’ to put it on. The doorbell rings and she’s definitely not picturing the blue - too blue must be photoshopped - eyes she saw on his webpage when she reaches for her lip gloss.  It’s just a little shimmer. Not lipstick.

 

She makes her way down the hall to the front door.  He’s looking at his shoes when she opens it and as he looks up she meets those blue, definitely not photoshopped eyes.  “Oh, wow!” She thinks just as he says the same.

 

Peeta is dumbstruck.  She’s the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen.  Those eyes cannot be real. He doesn’t even know how to describe the color.  He immediately reminds himself that he knows nothing about this woman, she could be married.  Please let her not be married.  _ Get it together, you’re here to help. _  Maybe when he’s done he can ask her out.  That is not professional. 

 

Twelve pounds of orange fluff and attitude jumps onto the console table near the door, demanding to be heard.

 

“Come in, if you dare.” Katniss motions him into the living room.  “Peeta, this is Buttercup.”

 

“He’s not shy is he?”

 

“Not in the least.” She laughs. “Come in, make yourself at home.  I have to check something in the kitchen. You two can get acquainted, I’ll be right back.”

 

Buttercup is now making a noise she’s never heard before.  It sounds almost like a bird chirping. He’s circling on the table.   Katniss watches as Peeta pets him. Buttercup swats at his hand but doesn’t make contact and Peeta doesn’t look phased at all. Watching him she can’t help but notice how intensely he’s looking at Buttercup.  She also can’t help but notice how broad his shoulders are and how she wishes he would turn around so she could see his ass. Con-man, con-man she repeats over and over in her head but that doesn’t stop her pulse from racing.

 

When she enters her kitchen she tries to catch her breath.  Why was she here again? Oh, yeah, stir the stew, stupid. Remember there’s no such thing as Dr. Dolittle, and certainly not a Dr. Dolittle she wants to mount like a pony and ride til morning. Con-man. 

 

“Can I get you something to drink?”  She calls into the living room.

 

“No, but you could fill Buttercup’s bowl. He says it’s dry.”

 

Katniss turns to look at the bowl and it is indeed dry.   _ Coincidence, right? _

 

She fills it then goes into the living room.  Buttercup jumps off the arm of Peeta’s chair and prances into the kitchen.  Swatting at her for good measure as he passes. 

 

“So, whatever he told you about me, it’s not true.  He hates me. Always has.”

 

Peeta laughs a deep rich laugh.  “Don’t worry, we didn’t get to you yet.”  Peeta smiles before dropping the bomb. “He keeps saying the same thing over and over.  ‘Where is she?’”

 

Katniss’ knees buckle as she sinks into her couch.

 

Peeta continues “At first, I thought we might be dealing with severe separation anxiety but when I said you were in the kitchen, he very clearly made it known that it’s not you.  Is he missing a blonde girl? Maybe a former owner, did you adopt him as an adult?”

 

Katniss’ hands are shaking.  He can’t be serious, this bastard looked me up!  She snaps at him. “How did you know? Did you google me?  Did you google her? Did Effie say something?”

 

“What?  Katniss no, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to upset you.”  He moves to the couch with her.  _ Don’t touch the client, Mellark _  “I didn’t.  You didn’t even give me your last name.  Katniss, I usually come into these readings completely blind. I only know first names before the appointment and what kind of animal. I do it on purpose so the client knows I didn’t google them.”  He notices Katniss’ eyes are beginning to well with tears. “Please, I’m so sorry Katniss. She obviously meant a lot to you. Buttercup is still waiting for her. He doesn’t understand.”

 

“I.. I, I need to…”. She can’t get the words out, just motions to the hallway.

 

She doesn’t go to her bedroom, instead she enters the spare bedroom.  In the closet there are boxes that haven’t been opened in two years. Katniss pulls one out and begins digging through it until she finds a frame.  Her hands shake as she brushes the glass with her fingers. As she is crossing the cardboard flaps to close up the box she notices the tops off the other boxes are pushed in and covered with a layer of orange fur. This must be his hiding place.

 

When she comes back into the living room, Buttercup is in a staring contest with Peeta. He doesn’t look up, just says out loud to her. “She left one day, like she normally did and he waited. She never came home.”

 

The tears come now and with shaking hands Katniss holds the picture out to him. “Beautiful,” he says as he takes in the photo showing a young blonde woman seated on a couch with the sun streaming in from a window.  Buttercup is curled up on the book in her lap, preventing her from reading. She’s looking down at him with so much adoration. “That’s the face he showed me. The coloring is different, but I can tell you two are sisters.”

 

“Prim.”  Katniss’ voice is small and breaks. “She died two years ago in an accident.”  Peeta has no way of knowing but this is the first time Katniss has said the words like that way.  Euphemisms have been her go to since it happened. She’s gone, she left us, she was taken but never the words “She died.”  It feels like she just let out a breath she had been holding for a very long time.

 

“That explains why he made it seem like he was waiting. He expected her to come home from work.  They didn’t live here, you brought him here.” Katniss nods. “He thinks you are keeping him from her. He wants to go back. He tells me ‘home’.”

 

“We were in such a shock after…. I’m ashamed to say, we forgot about him for a day. I kept him at her apartment for awhile.  I couldn’t bear to close it up. I stopped by everyday to feed him. When the lease was up, I had to let it go and I brought him here.”

 

“He was very confused then.  Pets become disoriented with big changes.  I think he’s been taking it out on you.”

 

Katniss starts to cry and Peeta rushes to her side again, this time he pulls her into a hug.  The words  _ unprofessional _ and  _ lawsuit _ flash through his mind but he doesn’t care.  She needs comfort.

 

“He’s indicated that she left like she normally did. I assume she went to work.”   

 

“Yes, she was a paramedic.  The first call of her shift was a man having a heart attack in his car on the side of the highway.  Prim and her partner were trying to get him onto a stretcher when a drunk driver struck them, killing all three instantly.”

 

“Oh, god Katniss, I’m sorry.”  He picks up the photo of Prim. “You don’t have any other photos of her around?”

 

“I put them away.  I couldn’t stand to have reminders. It was too hard to get through a day when I’d see her face everywhere.”

 

“I can understand that.”  He doesn’t know what else to say.  He’s just reminded the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen of the worst time in her life.

 

“Can you tell him... can you tell him ...she’s gone?”  Katniss says looking at the orange cat now pacing on the back of the couch.

 

“Abstract ideas like death are difficult to get across.  He’s smart though, I may be able to get him to understand that she went away and not to wait.”

 

Katniss doesn’t want to pull herself out of Peeta’s arms.  He smells so good, almost like bread, it’s comforting. “Tell him, she didn’t want to go but she had to.”

 

Katniss looks into Peeta’s eyes and there are tears.  “I will.”

 

Peeta stares at the picture, then closes his eyes slowly.  Buttercup is watching him closely and blinks in response.

 

Katniss has to leave the room.  She can’t watch it. She can’t watch the damn cat’s heart break.  She sees Peeta place the picture on the table next to Buttercup. Buttercup glances at the photo and crouches.

 

Katniss returns to find Peeta petting Buttercup under the chin.  “Careful, the last person to try that got bit.”

 

“You?”

 

“No he scratches me.”  She holds her arms up to see them riddled with scars and scabs.  “My Uncle. He bit right here,” She indicates the fleshy part of the thumb.  “Buttercup nearly met his maker that day.”

 

“He gets it, I think.  He really is extraordinary.  Prim bottle fed him didn’t she?”

 

“Yes, did he tell you that?”

 

“In a way.  I’ve noticed that animals that are hand reared communicate more.”

 

Katniss gives him a skeptical look.

 

“He’s really good at getting his point across.  I wish I was half as good at relaying messages back.”

 

“Really, a man better at receiving than giving? How unusual.”  Katniss doesn’t know what made her say that. Maybe she just needed to break the tension.  Peeta laughs and Katniss notices he has a dimple. He looks down before he speaks.

 

“Not in all things, and not all men.”   

 

And now it’s Katniss’ turn to blush. She laughs but it comes out more like a snort. Peeta laughs again and Buttercup arches his back and his tail curls at the end.   Peeta looks down at him and scratches his head. Katniss gets the feeling they are having a conversation to which she’s not privy and it makes her uncomfortable. She’s not believing this is she? Con man, she reminds herself.

 

“So do you want to know what else he wants?”

 

“You’ve discussed this?”

 

“With cats it’s easy, they can’t help but tell you what they want. “

 

“Ok, Communicator, what does he want?”

 

“Basically he’s bored.”

 

“Oh, really? Bored?  Can you please tell him that everytime I try to play with him he scratches me?”

 

“I’ve tried to relay that blood is bad.”

 

“Well that’s something.”

 

Buttercup is now curled up next to Prim’s picture.

 

“Couple of basic cat things for you.  You have this beautiful yard out there that he can see but not go in.  Have you considered a Catio?”

 

“Thanks about the yard and what the hell is a Catio?”

 

“A screened in outdoor space where the cat be safe. Maybe out this window.”  Peeta points out a small window that looks out at the side garden. “The plants really are beautiful.”

 

“I can do that.  I have a guy I can call.”

 

There is disappointment showing on his face. She has a guy, probably a boyfriend “Oh, that’s good.  Um, where’s his box?”

 

Katniss leads him through the house pointing out all the places Buttercup destroyed and Peeta makes suggestions on how to make the cat happier. 

 

“If I do all this, will he stop hating me?”

 

“Oh, he doesn’t hate you.”

 

“I have scar tissue to debate that.” Katniss pulls up the sleeves of her sweater and holds out her arms for him to see.  Peeta inspects her arms and somehow ends up holding her hands.  _ You’re touching the client again. Only pet the animals, Peeta. _

 

“He’s really done a job on you. Hasn’t he?”

 

“Oh yeah.”  Katniss steps closer.

 

“He admires you. He thinks you are a great provider and that’s big for cats.”

 

Katniss laughs.  “It must be the meat.”  Peeta looks at her with an eyebrow raised and she clarifies. “Primrose was a vegetarian.”

 

“That explains it.”

 

“Speaking of meat?”  She points to the stove and moves to stir it.  “Would you like to stay for dinner. Buttercup and I have plenty.”

 

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

 

“It’s beef, is that OK?  I mean, it might be kinda weird for you to eat an animal you talk to.”

 

“Remember that I said animals that are hand reared communicate more, well livestock tend not to communicate at all.  I tested it.” Peeta helps her set the table for three, two humans and one feline. “Your sister fed him on the table didn’t she?”

 

Katniss nods.  “He was her baby she said and he deserved to eat at the table like everyone else.  It drove our aunt nuts. I think that’s why Prim did it.”

 

Dinner continues and Katniss and Peeta never stop talking.

 

“Can you communicate with humans too?   Can you read my mind, Peeta?”

 

“No.  Just animals.  If I did, I’d know the answer to the big question.”

 

“What’s the big question?”   _Oh wait, is he hitting on me?_ _Is he going to ask me if I want to sleep with him.   Do I want to sleep with Dr. Dolittle?_  Katniss is so lost in her inner monologue that she nearly misses the question.

 

“Katniss, do you believe in me?”

 

“Um, what?”  She says with a tinge of disappointment.  “Oh, um. I’ll let you know. If you cure that beast, I’ll have to believe.”

 

Peeta tempts Buttercup with a bit of gravy on his finger.  “You and me bud. You gotta do me a solid.” The beast actually licks it sweetly off.

 

“How does it work exactly?”

 

“Readings?”

 

“Yeah, I mean do all animals speak English?”

 

“They don’t exactly speak at all.  I don’t hear a voice or anything like that.  It’s more images of pictures, actions.

 

Katniss nods. Somehow that makes this less crazy.

 

“Animals who are used to people are better at it - sending images.  Animals like livestock who have no contact with humans one on one simply don’t send the images and if they do it’s pretty much “Food” all the time.  I’ve learned to read those images.”

 

“How do you do that?”

 

“Practice.” He says with a smile and Katniss rolls her eyes.

 

“Perspective helps too.  It took me forever to figure out that animals see things from a different angle and may focus on something that we would think is insignificant.”

 

He’s losing her he can tell.  Pull back on the mumbo-jumbo.

 

“For example with dogs, I see a lot of feet because that’s what they see the most.  I then can say it’s a man or woman - shoes make it easier.”

 

“I never thought of that.”

 

“Also, animals, pets especially see a lot of our lives and sometimes they show some inappropriate images.”

 

“Oh no!”  Katniss laughs.

 

“Oh yes”  Peeta says enjoying the sound of her laughter.  Then her laughter stops.

 

“Buttercup didn’t…?”

 

“Oh, no, he’s been a perfect gentleman, don’t worry.”

 

“Not that he’s seen anything inappropriate.  I…”  _ Stop Katniss, Next thing you’ll be admitting that the cat has watched you do some things you don’t want him to know about… yet.  Change the subject.  _ “So what do you do if you go to an appointment and the animal doesn’t cooperate?”

 

“Then I fall back on my traditional training.”

 

“What training?”

 

“I’m a veterinarian.  I practiced for a few years too until more people were coming for me to read their dog than treat them. I rely on good old fashioned behavior training.  I can usually get enough through that to send them home happy. So, do you believe me now?”

 

“Maybe.”

 

“So tell me about you.”

  
“What do you want to know?”

 

“Let’s start with your last name, then you can tell me what you do for a living.”  Those blue eyes look at her with such earnestness that Katniss feels her walls crumbling.

 

“Everdeen and I’m a landscape architect.”

 

“Your gardens are beautiful, I couldn’t help but notice as I arrived.”

 

“Thank you, I learned from my father, it was all I ever wanted to do.”

 

“Maybe when you’re outside working in your yard, you could put Buttercup on a harness and bring him out with you.”

 

“Great idea, if I want to give a pint of blood. I can’t imagine touching him long enough to get a harness on him.”

 

“We’ll get there,” Peeta reassures.

 

He said WE and Katniss’ heart beats faster.  A brilliant smile breaks on her face. 

 

Keep calm Mellark, she likes you!

 

As dinner winds down, Peeta realizes he doesn’t want to go.  He has a plane to catch tomorrow and he hasn’t packed but he doesn’t want to leave.  At this point, professionalism is out the freakin’ window. He’s crazy about this girl.

 

The sudden silence at the table is making Katniss nervous and she stands to collect the dishes.  Her mind is running through ways she could get him to stay longer. She could proposition him. “ _ Hey Peeta, what am I thinking right now? _ ” then strip off her sweater and hop on the kitchen table.  No, get it together, you were proud of yourself for just asking him to stay to dinner.  Don’t push your luck.    
  


“Dessert!” she says way too loudly.

 

“Dessert?” he asks while thinking, YES!

 

“I have ice cream.”

 

“I like ice cream,” he accepts with that smile and and those damn website eyes light up.

 

They don’t talk much as they make quick work of the dinner dishes.   Both of them contemplating how easily they work together.

 

They eat their ice cream while sitting facing each other on Katniss’ big soft couch.  They sit turned in toward one another, a blanket across their laps. Buttercup takes up his position on the back cushion, tail twitching in annoyance.  Katniss can’t turn off her curiosity about his profession and him in general.

 

“When did you first know you could… what do you call it exactly?”   
  


Peeta blushes, he doesn’t know how much he should share.  Parts of his story aren’t happy and he doesn’t want to scare her away.  One look into those gray eyes, gray? Are they really gray? Wow they’re amazing.  He decides to tell her everything.

 

“I was a lonely kid, my brothers were older.  They formed a bond with each other way before I was born and they saw me as an interloper.  My mother didn’t want a third kid, and certainly not another boy. She didn’t have much to do with me but she always had a lot to say about me.  My father was too busy running his business. So I was alone most of the time.”

 

“No friends?”

 

“We lived above our bakery in town.  There weren’t many kids around but there was a dog.  Our neighbors had a beagle. I would ask to play with thim and he was the first animal I ever had any close contact.  I didn’t think anything was out of the ordinary. I thought everyone could understand like I did. Fred was awesome. I didn’t figure out that he couldn’t understand my speaking until later.  I would walk him up and down mainstreet all day, talking to him.”

 

“That’s adorable.”

 

“And weird and my mother didn’t have weird children.  She finally was so embarrassed that she asked our neighbor to not let me take Fred out.”

 

“That’s terrible.  Why would she?”

 

“My mother is not a nice woman.  Anyhow, Fred and I found a hole in the fence behind our homes.  I’d sit all day talking to this fence with the dog on the other side.  I guess a weird six year old kid in your backyard is better than one in public.”

 

“What happened to Fred?”  Peeta smiles. He’s told this story to a lot of people and she’s the first to ask after Fred.

 

“His owners got divorced and he went to live with the wife when she moved out.  He liked her better anyway. He was OK.”

 

“But you were alone again.”

 

“Yeah and I really had no contact with many animals throughout my childhood.  I’d beg for one every year but Mom had a built in excuse. ‘We live in a bakery, Peeta.  It’s unsanitary, they’ll shut us down if we had a dog.’ It wasn’t until college that I realized there was something different about me.”

 

“Is your ability why you became a vet?”

 

“I became vet to piss off my mother.  She wanted me to be a surgeon. My oldest brother is a lawyer, my middle brother has taken over the family business and a surgeon would just round out her trifecta of proof she was a decent mother.  I was supposed to be the lifesaver.”

 

“You are still.”

  
“Yes, but not people.  ‘They’re filthy beasts, Peeta’”  He imitates. “I had just had a lovely phone discussion with her one day about how I was wasting my time and should be volunteering at the nearest hospital.  I was on my way to sign up when I saw a Veterinary hospital. I thought about Fred. I went in and volunteered. It was a hospital after all.”

 

“That’s one way to get back at her.”

 

“Anyway, I found my calling, I honed my ability and I was doing good, training the untrainable dogs that were brought in for euthanasia from the local shelter.   It felt good. I changed my major and the rest is history.”

 

Katniss could listen to him talk all night.  Even Buttercup is enthralled listening from his perch on the back of the couch.

 

“Did you ever get your own dog?”

 

“You know, I didn’t. Too busy with school first then well, it hasn’t really stopped long enough for me to settle anywhere.  I did have a girlfriend in college and she had a dog. But it ended oddly.”

 

“Oddly?  With the girl or the dog?”

 

“Both.  Remember how I said they can sometimes show me inappropriate images?  Well I came home one day and the dog was agitated. I sat down with him and he sent me an image that I couldn’t quite figure out.  It was my girlfriend, and she was in bed, but it wasn’t me with her.”

 

“Were you sure?”

 

“Pretty sure, I’m not a woman.”

 

“Oh no!”

 

“Oh yes!”  he says nodding.

 

“That’s terrible that you would find out that way,” she says hiding a smile.

 

“It’s Ok, the awkward part came when I confronted her and she denied it.  I said, ‘I saw you!’ She asked how and I made the mistake of telling her.”

 

Katniss starts to giggle but she covers her mouth to stop herself.

 

“It’s OK you can laugh.  It wasn’t my finest hour.  Not only did I find out my girlfriend had a girlfriend but revealed my deepest secret at the same time.”   
  


“I shouldn’t be laughing, I’m sorry it’s just so …unreal”  she says between breaths.

 

“I guess you can say that we were both outed by a golden doodle. So yeah, it um, ended- oddly”

 

As Katniss tries to regain her composure, a minor miracle happens. Buttercup climbs down from the back of the couch to settle on the blanket between them.   Katniss freezes, holding her arms in the air, afraid to accidentally touch him. She knows this is a trap Buttercup sets, pretend to cuddle then attack.

 

“Just relax,”  Peeta urges. “He’s quite content right now.”

 

“He’s never...”  she looks to the minor miracle worker across from her. “He’s never sat with anyone other than Prim.  Even before...”

 

“Progress!”  Peeta says.

 

Katniss never wants this moment to end.  “You realize you can’t leave now. He’s half on you.  We are not getting up until he does.”

 

“Cats can nap up to 12 hours you know.”

 

“Do you have somewhere else to be?” she teases.

 

“Nowhere I’d rather be, that’s for sure.”  The smile he gives her is enough for her to be grateful for the evil beast sitting half on her lap.

 

“Tell me about your sister?”  It’s an innocent and relevant question but Peeta has no idea the storm it sets off in Katniss’ mind.  But with Buttercup purring on her knee, she begins to tell Peeta about Prim. She tells about how she took care of her sister when their mother couldn’t.  How Prim was the main focus of her life. She tells him how bright Prim was, how amazing she was. She tells him how Prim found Buttercup and wouldn’t give up on him despite two vets telling her he’d never make it.

 

Katniss is once again surprised by the effect this man has on her.  She tells him about how when her aunt and uncle took them in, she was relieved. How at 14 she was so tired of being the grown up.  She has never told anyone she felt that way. His ability must extend to humans somehow.

 

Her voice grows quiet when she starts to tell him about losing her.  Peeta reaches across and takes her hand. Their fingers entwine as if they’ve been doing it their whole lives.  She’s said enough for now. There’s no need to continue. Katniss lays her head back on the couch and when she closes her eyes, she begins to slip into sleep.

 

Peeta takes this opportunity to really look at her.  Her flawless skin, dotted with delicate freckles on each cheek.  Her soft mouth which he has watched tonight as it pulled from crooked scowl to blinding smile.  She’s laughed with him and cried too and he swears he’s seen every emotion in between. He is as entranced with her sleeping as he was shocked by her beauty when she first opened the door.  

 

He watches her sleep and thinks, can this possibly be real?  Can she possibly feel it too? He could watch her sleep til morning … if it weren’t for the three beers he’s consumed since dinner.  Nature is calling to him. He tries his best not to wake the sleeping cat but Buttercup stands as he does.

 

“No, stay!”  she mumbles half in sleep.

 

Peeta leans in close enough to whisper in her ear.  “Me or Buttercup?”

 

“Both,” she says and grabs his hand.  He’s close enough, he could kiss her. He wants to kiss her.

 

“I will.  I just have to use the bathroom.”   The temptation to touch her is too great so, he settles for tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear so he can see her face better.

 

“Ok,” she says, closing her eyes again.  Buttercup resettles in the warm spot he’d left behind on the couch. 

 

When he returns to the couch, he nudges a grumbling Buttercup out of his spot and sits back against the arm and stretches out.   Katniss is awake now and their eyes connect. She opens her mouth to speak but hesitates.

 

“My turn,” she says with a sleepy smile and makes her way to the bathroom.  “Don’t go anywhere,” she reminds him.

 

“I’ll stay.”

 

When Katniss returns, she finds that Buttercup has now taken up her warmed spot and with Peeta stretched out, there is no room for her.  Peeta scoots back, making space for Katniss beside him. She settles in with her head resting on his broad chest. Once she is comfortable, Buttercup slinks up over their entwined legs and lays between them.   All three nod off together.

 

***

Katniss wakes on her sofa alone. For a moment, she’s disappointed he’s not there until the delicious aromas emanating from her kitchen hit her nose.  Bacon. And something else is different, for the first time in months she isn’t greeted with a growling cat taking a swat at her feet. She walks into the kitchen to find Peeta standing at the stove with Buttercup sitting on the table watching him closely.

 

“Hey,” Katniss greets him and he turns with the most dazzling smile.  Again the word “Wow” threatens to spill from her lips. He is sunshine personified.

 

“Morning!  I made breakfast,” he says.

 

“I see that, thank you.”  Katniss reaches for Buttercup’s bowl to find it full.  

 

“I got him.”

 

As they sit at the table, enjoying their breakfast they don’t speak, just shy glances and smiles as they eat.  Buttercup sits between them. 

***

 

Katniss walks Peeta to the door.  He holds her hand and they stare at one another.  

  
“I have a plane to catch.”

 

“I know.”

 

“Can I see you when I get back?”

 

“I’ll allow it.”

 

“Can I call or text you this week, you know to check up on the patient?”

 

She nods.

 

Peeta leans down and gives her the sweetest, hottest kiss she ever had.  She sighs when he pulls back. She pulls him back down. 

 

“I really have to go.” He says with his smile still against her lips.

 

“I know.”  She opens the door for him and he steps out into the morning sun.  She watches him walk down the garden path. 

 

“Oh, no.” she says when she sees him pass Effie at the gate.  Katniss can hear Effie’s excited squeal when he says hello to her.  With a final wave, he gets into his car to drive away.

 

“Effie, what are you doing here so early?”

 

“You were supposed to call me when he left.”

 

“Well, he just left.”

 

“I see that Darling and I couldn’t be prouder.”

 

“It wasn’t like that.”

 

“Oh, but it will be. I can tell, I’m psychic about these things.”

 

Katniss rolls her eyes as she lets her Aunt into the house.  Normally she would dread a conversation like she is about to have, but today, she can’t help but smile.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> These characters are not mine. ::Sigh:: I'm just using them for a little fun for a little while. But everything else is me.


End file.
